


To (never) be Alone

by Phantom_Ice



Series: To Be... Hetalia Character Fills [3]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Bonding, Children, Friendship, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 20:06:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17432666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phantom_Ice/pseuds/Phantom_Ice
Summary: 03. Character you'd dateWhile sitting outside and enjoying himself, Canada has a small visitor who reminds him what it means to be a country of thirty-seven million people: never being alone.





	To (never) be Alone

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, I like this one. Short but fluid.

“Hi there,”

Canada nearly jumped in surprise. It wasn’t often someone intruded on his private thoughts. The near movement bothered Nanuq, who was curled up on his lap, and the bear shifted to get comfortable again.

“Oh, hello,” he answered softly, looking at the little girl who had decided to sit on the bench next to him. Though he wasn’t invisible to people in his own country like he mostly was to those of others (and the countries in question themselves), he was still a quiet person who didn’t attract too much attention in public, so it was rare for someone to actively approach him. Still, he always enjoyed conversations with his people, even the small ones. “How are you?” He asked. 

“Good,” She nodded while kicking her feet. There was a bandaid on her leg and the light beige color drew a sharp contrast to her dark brown skin. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Matthew. What’s your name?” 

“Jenna.” Of course, he already knew that. Jenna Grace Lam, born July 12 in a small hospital in southern Manitoba, just a few miles from the border he shared with his brother. Her mother was in a small shop near the pier he was sitting on, looking at a dress she didn’t like enough to buy. She hasn’t noticed her daughter was missing yet, but he guessed that she would in a moment considering her general personality. Her father was working at his job in an office building. At that moment he was thinking about what to buy Jenna for her approaching birthday. One of his coworkers was… Canada shook himself out of his mind, knowing the cycle could go on forever if he let it. He should probably be worrying about her giving her name out to strangers like that, but he knew that wasn’t something Jenna would normally do. She just trusted him as his people often did. She knew that he wasn’t really a stranger, but unlike adults felt no need to wonder why. 

“I like your bear,” she said solemnly instead. 

“Thank you.” He wondered what exactly she was seeing. People who looked at Nanuq generally saw whatever they expected too. Usually he was a dog, sometimes he was stuffed animal (which got him weird looks considering his age and gender). Children though, well children sometimes didn’t realize how crazy it would be to see someone walking around with a polar bear cub and saw exactly what was there. “Would you like to pet him?”

She smiled up at him and nodded, her hair bouncing in its tightly curled ponytail. 

“What’s his name?” She giggled as Nanuq twisted around so she could reach the bottom of his neck. Lazy bear. It was clear that she was seeing a living animal now, though. He chuckled at the story she was sure to tell her parents about the polar bear she had pet. 

“Nanuq,”

“Nanuq,” she repeated, wrinkling her nose. 

“It’s Inuit,”

“Inuit?”

“Inuit. The people who lived here first, before I-- before Canada was a country. They have different customs and different words for things. Nanuq means polar bear,”

“... Polar Bear is a bad name for a polar bear,” she stated seriously, still petting Nanuq. 

Canada laughed.

“That’s what everyone says, but I was a baby when I named him.” Canada noted that Jenna’s mother had just noticed she was missing.

“You were a baby?” There was awe in Jenna’s voice as she looked up at him. _But he’s so tall _, he caught the stray thought from her mind and couldn’t help but laugh again.__

____

“Of course, everyone was once.” She furrowed her eyebrows and picked at the short pant leg of her light purple jumpsuit while the hand she was petting Nanuq with stilled in his fur. 

____

“That must have been a long time ago,” she finally decided. 

____

“A very long time ago,” he answered honestly. She looked up again.

____

“Can I pet you,”

____

“What?” He looked down at her in surprise. 

____

“Your hair is pretty and it’s long even though you’re a boy. Can I pet it?”

____

“It’s not that long,” Canada mumbled a little self consciously, thinking about how his brother would never let him live that one down if he were here, but he lowered his head anyway in unspoken permission. 

____

A small hand patted his head and then bunched up the locks hanging by his ear before running a hand over them. 

____

“It’s soft,”

____

“Thank you, it’s like my papa’s,”

____

“Momma says mine is like my daddy’s too.” She retracted her hand and Canada straightened up again. 

____

“Jenna!” The girl’s mother was a few feet from the door of the shop, having finally found the girl sitting on the bench. Canada watched as the woman’s eyes caught him and went from suspicious to confused to relieved and then back to a more distant confusion. 

____

“You should go,” he said. 

____

“I like you,” Jenna announced with big eyes pointed at him and he was sure he blushed to the roots of his hair as a sunshine sort of warmth bloomed in his stomach. 

____

“Thank you, I like you too.” Her smile was blinding as she hopped off the bench. She ran a few steps before turning back. 

____

“Bye Nanau. Bye Matthew. Thank you for letting me pet your bear and you.”

____

“Canada,” Canada made a split second decision. “My friends call me Canada.” She stared for a moment as if trying to decide if he was lying. 

____

“You can’t be Canada. The country is Canada.” He winked at her conspiratorially and she got it as he knew she would. Her eyes widened and she giggled into her fist. 

____

“Jenna!”

____

“Bye, Canada!” She called as she ran the rest of the way towards her mother, waving back at him the whole time. When she got there, her mother waved at him once with a warm smile before heading back in the direction of the store. 

____

“He’s Canada and he has a pet polar bear and…” Jenna’s voice faded as she and her mother walked out of hearing range but the bright spark of them in his chest, along with a few million others, continued to warm him as he looked out on the busy pier.

____


End file.
